Project description:In insects, male accessory gland proteins (ACPs) are important reproductive proteins secreted by male accessory glands (MAGs) of the internal male reproductive system. During mating, ACPs were transferred along with sperms inside female bodies and have a significant impact on the physiology of female reproduction. Under sexual selection pressures, the ACPs exhibit remarkably rapid and divergent evolution and varies from species to species. The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), is a major insect pest of cruciferous vegetables worldwide. The reproductive physiology on post-mating state of this species is still largely unknown, which is important for management of this pest. In this study, the ACPs transferred into females during mating were identified by using a tandem mass tags quantitative proteomic analysis. The MAGs were compared before and after mating immediately. In total, we identified 123 putative secreted ACPs, including most important physiological: regulators of proteolysis, transporters and protein export machinery, signal transduction and immunity. Comparing P. xylostella with other four insect ACPs, trypsins were the only ACPs detected in all insect species. This was the first time to identify and analyze ACPs in P. xylostella. Our results have provided an important list of putative secreted ACPs, and have set the stage for further explore functions of these putative proteins in P. xylostella reproduction.
Project description:In insects, male accessory gland proteins (ACPs) are important reproductive proteins secreted by male accessory glands (MAGs) of the internal male reproductive system. During mating, ACPs were transferred along with sperms inside female bodies and have a significant impact on the physiology of female reproduction. Under sexual selection pressures, the ACPs exhibit remarkably rapid and divergent evolution and varies from species to species. The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), is a major insect pest of cruciferous vegetables worldwide. The reproductive physiology on post-mating state of this species is still largely unknown, which is important for management of this pest. In this study, the ACPs transferred into females during mating were identified by using a tandem mass tags quantitative proteomic analysis. The MAGs were compared before and after mating immediately. The proteomes of copulatory bursas (CB) in mated females shortly after mating were also analyzed by shotgun LC-MS/MS technique. In total, we identified 123 putative secreted ACPs, including most important physiological: regulators of proteolysis, transporters and protein export machinery, signal transduction and immunity. Comparing P. xylostella with other four insect ACPs, trypsins were the only ACPs detected in all insect species. We also identified some new insect ACPs, including protein with chitin binding Peritrophin-A domain, PMP-22/EMP/MP20/Claudin tight junction domain-containing protein, netrin-1, type II inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate 5-phosphatase, two spaetzles, allatostatin-CC and cuticular protein. This was the first time to identify and analyze ACPs in P. xylostella. Our results have provided an important list of putative secreted ACPs, and have set the stage for further explore functions of these putative proteins in P. xylostella reproduction.
Project description:• Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs), in addition to attracting natural enemies of herbivores, can serve a signaling function within plants by acting as wound signals that induce or prime defenses. However, particularly in woody plants, which compounds within HIPV blends are capable of acting as signaling molecules are largely unknown. • Leaves of hybrid poplar (Populus deltoides x nigra) saplings were exposed in vivo to naturally wound-emitted concentrations of the green leaf volatile (GLV) cis-3-hexenyl acetate (z3HAC) and then subsequently fed upon by gypsy moth larvae (Lymantria dispar L.). Volatiles were collected throughout the experiments, and leaf tissue was collected to measure phytohormone levels and expression of defense-related genes. • Relative to controls, z3HAC-exposed leaves had higher levels of jasmonic acid and linolenic acid following gypsy moth feeding. Further, z3HAC primed transcripts of phytohormone signaling (lipoxygenase 1) and direct defense (a Kunitz proteinase inhibitor) genes. These qRT-PCR results were supported by microarray analysis using the AspenDB 7K EST microarray containing ~5400 unique gene models. Moreover, z3HAC also primed the release of herbivore-induced terpene volatiles. • The widespread priming response suggests an adaptive benefit to detecting z3HAC as a wound signal. Thus, woody plants can detect and use z3HAC as a signaling cue to prime defenses before actually experiencing damage. GLVs may therefore have important ecological functions in arboreal ecosystems.
2008-07-24 | GSE11955 | GEO
Project description:Evolutionary Genomics of Gypsy Moth
Project description:Adult male mice (F0) were exposed to 250 ppb inorganic arsenic (iAs) in drinking water before mating with unexposed female mice to generate male F1 offspring (iAsF1-M). Unexposed male mice were bred simultaneously to generate male controls (conF1-M). Both iAsF1-M and conF1-M mice drank normal water without iAs. Adult iAsF1-M and conF1-M mice were harvested to collect liver samples to do RNA-seq.
Project description:Insects, unlike vertebrates, are generally believed to lack steroid hormones with functions predominantly associated with adult male biology. In the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae, the ecdysteroid 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) appears to both control egg development in females and induce mating refractoriness and oviposition when sexually transferred by males. Here we show that these sex-specific functions are instead carried out by distinct steroids. We identify a male-specific oxidized form of 20E (3D20E) that upon sexual transfer switches off female mating receptivity, ensuring male paternity. Endogenous female 20E does not induce mating refractoriness, while it triggers oviposition in mated females when expression of a 20E-inhibiting kinase is repressed. 3D20E and 20E have different downstream targets, with 3D20E inducing expression of a tolerance factor that preserves female fitness during Plasmodium infection. The evolution of this male steroid has therefore not only shaped the mating biology of An. gambiae, but also impacted malaria transmission.
Project description:Fertility depends on the progression of complex and coordinated postmating processes within the extracellular luminal environment of the female reproductive tract (FRT). To achieve a more comprehensive level of knowledge regarding female-derived proteins available to interact with the ejaculate, we utilized semiquantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics to study the composition of the FRT tissue and, separately, the luminal fluid, before and after mating in Drosophila melanogaster. Our approach leveraged whole-fly isotopic labelling to delineate between female proteins and those transferred from males in the ejaculate. The dynamic mating-induced proteomic changes in the extracellular FRT luminal fluid further informs our understanding of secretory mechanisms of the FRT and serves as a foundation for establishing the roles of ejaculate-female interactions in fertility.